Reviews tagging 'Gore'

De stad der blinden by José Saramago

38 reviews

eelitorr's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

3.0

Great book, interesting prose. However, the content is incredibly difficult to read as it details the dissolution of society. See numerous content warnings.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Excrement, Vomit, Murder, and Pandemic/Epidemic

ahzarkie's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Murder, and Pandemic/Epidemic

tmbrundage's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.0

Compelling and thoughtful book, but graphic

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

lindseyhall44's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

A beautiful, dark, horrifying, redemptive read, which is more honest about human nature than anything I have ever experienced. I would highly recommend.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Excrement, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

f_zanini's review against another edition

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Chronic illness, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Vomit, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Pandemic/Epidemic

slrsnz's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

Saramago is not for everyone, people that need structured readings will certainly struggle with his novels. 

That being said, this is my second book by him and his imagination amazes me. Truly makes you wonder about how fragile society can be in extreme situations like this, and how dependent we are of everyone, how connected we all are in one way or another. The story having a “good ending” doesn’t save the characters from all the hurdles they have yet to go through to return to a modern society. 

Saramago is slowly becoming one of my favorites, you honestly get used to the dialogues and at times to me they flow way smoother than structured ones. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical trauma, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

sappypatheticm's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

_ami_'s review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

That was a very hard read, not because of the lack of quotation marks or paragraphing, but that halfway. I felt sick to my stomach. But it was a great story that explores the human mind and behaviour at these circumstances.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Police brutality, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Vomit, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Infidelity and Grief

thebigemmt505's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

“It even used to be said there is no such thing as blindness, only blind people, when the experience of time has taught us nothing other than that there are no blind people, but only blindness.”

The premise of Blindness is this: the population slowly behind to go blind without any explanation. The world quickly devolves into chaos as human nature is stripped down to its bare bones. There remains only one sighted person throughout the book. 

It’s difficult to review this one. The writing style is difficult to get used to, with long run on sentences and no breaks between character dialogue. The author stays grounded in the plot while also being quite philosophical. The pace of the book is mixed ;  the progression of the narrative feels extremely fast while the way it’s written slows it down.  The characters are meant to fill simple roles, not even having names, and while this is intentional, the behavior of these characters throughout the book does actually give them a lot of distinguishing characteristics. It’s technically a very well-done book, but the whole product feels…odd, in a sense. 

It’s thesis is both obvious and vague. Breaking the fragile threads that bind society is not difficult, in the sense it takes just one disaster, just one collapse, just one event that’s too difficult to manage before all social cohesion dissipates. It’s cliche almost, pointing out the fragility of society. I think the book depicts a collapse much more obscene and rapid than what would actually happen, even if there are now some very real life parallels to be drawn between this and the recent pandemic everyone faced in the real world. Though way over the top, I think it puts into perspective how ephemeral society and it’s constructs are, and how quickly their artificial importance slips away in the face of crisis. Education has no importance. Money has no importance. Even names bear no importance anymore. If no one can see it, what power does it have? This, for better and for worse. 

There’s a lot of symbolism I likely missed, though, which makes it even harder for me to fully flesh out my thoughts on the overall meaning and impact of this book. 

My favorite moment in the book is definitely the first scene with the dog of tears. Through all the barbaric, disgusting, “animalistic” behavior of the blind masses, two sentient beings who can still see the humanity in one another bond. My interpretation likely isn’t what was meant to be drawn from it, but I found it beautiful nonetheless. 

All in all, it’s not an easy read, though I’d argue it’s a rewarding one. It’s a bit of a slog at points, if only after reading the same three lines seventeen times to try and figure out who is saying what, but still an intriguing and engaging read. It makes for an interesting experience, unsettling and disturbing, read. Give it a go, if you’re really in the mood for something dark and literary. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Murder, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Vomit

citrusandwords's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Rape, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic